In Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy Versus Jimmy Hoffa, investigative journalist James Neff (The Wrong Man) looks at the tumultuous events of the '50s and '60s through the prism of a decades-long feud between two powerful, diametrically opposed men. Bobby Kennedy came into contact with the famously mob-connected labor leader Jimmy Hoffa during his time as chief council of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee, where he earned his enduring reputation for ruthlessness by publicly dressing down men like Hoffa. Later, as Attorney General, his fixation on Hoffa grew, eventually evolving from a grudge to a crusade. Hoffa, for his part, claimed persecution and struck back in devious--and frequently criminal--ways.
Neff skillfully manufactures a narrative out of the political posturing and legal maneuvering that made up the bulk of this feud by emphasizing the personal dislike the men developed for each other. To Hoffa, Kennedy was a holier-than-thou scold, a patrician who looked down on Hoffa's lower-class manners and upbringing. To Kennedy, Hoffa was a blustering bully. Neff succeeds in describing how their clashing personalities led to conflict on a national scale.
Vendetta is full of fascinating depictions of corruption and political pressure, but its real draw lies in the titanic personal struggle at its center. That struggle acquires a cinematic flair as each man's fortunes rise and fall dramatically, with each of their lives ending in such a way as to fuel retroactive mythmaking. Neff tells a compelling real-life story about men who have acquired the patina of legends. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books